1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a door of a drum type washing machine having a hook assembly for locking the door, and, more particularly, to a door of a drum type washing machine that allows a hook assembly to be easily and conveniently mounted to the door and that is capable of preventing the pleasing appearance of the door from being spoiled due to a handle of the hook assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a drum type washing machine is a machine that washes the laundry using friction generated between a drum rotated by a driving force of a motor and the laundry while detergent, wash water, and the laundry are put in the drum, which is horizontally disposed.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional drum type washing machine.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional drum type washing machine comprises: a cabinet 2 forming the appearance of the drum type washing machine; a tub (not shown) horizontally disposed in the cabinet 2; a drum 4 rotatably disposed in the tub for washing the laundry; a plurality of lifting blades 6 attached to the inner circumferential surface of the drum 4 for lifting the laundry to a predetermined height such that the laundry drops from the lifting blades by gravity at the predetermined height; a motor 8 disposed at the rear of the tub for generating a driving force necessary to drive the drum 4; a cabinet cover 10 attached to the front part of the cabinet 2, the cabinet cover 20 being provided at the center thereof with a laundry inlet/outlet hole 10A for allowing the laundry to be put into or removed from the drum 4 therethrough; and a door 20 attached to the cabinet cover 10 for opening and closing the laundry inlet/outlet hole 10A.
Specifically, one lateral side of the door 20 is hingedly connected to the cabinet cover 10 by means of a door hinge 24, and at the other lateral side of the door 20 is disposed a hook assembly 28 for locking the door 20 to the cabinet cover 10 to prevent the door 20 from being accidentally opened.
When the other lateral side of the door 20 comes into contact with the cabinet cover 10, the hook assembly 28 is inserted in a locking fashion into a hook hole 10B formed at the cabinet cover 10.
The hook assembly 28 may be a handle type hook assembly or a non-handle type hook assembly. The handle type hook assembly has a handle, which is manipulated by a user of the drum type washing machine. In the handle type hook assembly, the door 20 is locked or unlocked through the user's manual manipulation of the handle. The non-handle type hook assembly has an additional locking mechanism (not shown), which is disposed at the hook hole side of the cabinet cover 10. In the non-handle type hook assembly, the door 20 is automatically locked or unlocked by the locking mechanism based on operations of the drum type washing machine.
Since the door 20 is automatically locked or unlocked by the locking mechanism based on operations of the drum type washing machine in the case of the non-handle type hook assembly, it is difficult to manufacture the hook assembly, it is costly to manufacture the hook assembly, and it is necessary to manufacture the hook assembly with high precision.
Since the door 10 is manually locked or unlocked through the user's manual manipulation of the handle in the case of the handle type hook assembly, on the other hand, it is easy to manufacture the hook assembly as compared to the non-handle type hook assembly, and the hook assembly can be economically manufactured. However, the handle type hook assembly has problems in that the appearance of the door 20 is not pleasing due to the presence of the handle and in that it is very difficult to mount the hook assembly to the door 20.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating one example of a conventional door 20 having a handle type hook assembly, and FIG. 3 is an exploded plan view illustrating a door frame of the door 20 shown in FIG. 2.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the conventional door 20 comprises: a ring-shaped door frame 22 hingedly connected to the front surface of the cabinet cover 10 at one lateral side thereof; a door hinge 24 (See FIG. 1), having both ends attached to one lateral side of the door frame 22 and the front cover of the cabinet cover 10, respectively, for hingedly supporting the door frame 22; a door glass 26 disposed at the center, which is opened, of the door frame 22; and a hook assembly 28 disposed at the other lateral side of the door frame 22 such that the hook assembly 28 is inserted in a locking fashion into a hook hole 10B formed at the front surface of the cabinet cover 10.
The door frame 22 is made of an injection-molded plastic material. The door frame 22 comprises: a front door frame part 30; and a rear door frame part 32 disposed at the rear surface of the front door frame part 30.
At one lateral side of the inner circumferential surface of the front door frame part 30 is formed a grip part 34, which is protruded inward such that the grip part 34 is gripped by a user of the drum type washing machine when the door 20 is opened or closed. At the inner circumferential surface of the front door frame part 30, which is opposite to the rear of the grip part 34, is formed an opening hole 31.
The edge of the door glass 26 is fixedly disposed between the front door frame part 30 and the rear door frame part 32 for hermetically sealing the opened center of the door frame 22.
The hook assembly 28 comprises: a hook 40 extending through the rear door frame part 32; a hook shaft 42, to which the hook 40 is hingedly attached, the hook shaft 42 having both ends respectively supported by supporting parts 36 formed at the front surface of the rear door frame part 32; a handle 44 having one lateral side hingedly attached to the hook shaft 42 and the other lateral side disposed at the rear of the grip part 34; and resilient members 46 disposed on the hook shaft 42 for resiliently supporting the hook 40.
At the rear door frame part 32 is formed a through-hole 38, through which the hook 40 is inserted. At the cabinet cover 10 is formed a hook hole 10B, which corresponds to the hook 40. The hook 40 is inserted in a locking fashion into the hook hole 10B such that the hook 40 is locked.
The handle 44 is inserted through the opening hole 31 of the front door frame part 30. When the handle is manipulated by the user of the drum type washing machine, the hook 40 is moved in a hinged fashion in the lateral direction of the drum type washing machine.
The resilient members 46 are coil springs disposed on the hook shaft 42. The inner ends of the resilient members 46 are held at both sides of the hook 40, respectively, and the outer ends of the resilient members 46 are held at the rear surface of the front door frame part 30.
In the door having the handle type hook assembly with the above-stated construction, the hook assembly 28 is mounted to the rear door frame part 32, and then the front door frame part 30 is securely fixed to the front surface of the rear door frame part 32 by means of a fixing member.
At this time, the edge of the door glass 26 is disposed between the inner circumferential parts of the front door frame part 30 and the rear door frame part 32, and therefore, the door glass 26 is securely fixed by the front door frame part 30 and the rear door frame part 32. The outer ends of the resilient members 46 of the hook assembly 28 are pressed by the front door frame part 30, and therefore, resilient forces are provided to the hook 40.
Subsequently, the door frame 22 is hingedly connected to the cabinet cover 10 by the door hinge 24 at one lateral side thereof.
When the handle 44 of the hook assembly 28 of the door 20 with the above-stated construction is pushed forward by the user of the drum type washing machine, the hook 40 is moved in a hinged fashion by the handle 44, and therefore, the hook 40 is disengaged from the hook hole 10B. When the user holds the grip part 34 of the front door frame part 30 in the above state, and then moves the door in a hinged fashion in the lateral direction of the drum type washing machine, the laundry inlet/outlet hole 10A is opened or closed by the door 20.
In the conventional door having the handle type hook assembly with the above-stated construction, however, the grip part 34 is protruded inward from the inner circumferential surface of the front door frame part 30 such that the handle 44 of the hook assembly 28 is hidden and the grip part 34 is held by the user of the drum type washing machine. As a result, the door frame 22 is not formed in the shape of a complete ring due to the grip part 34, and therefore, the pleasing appearance of the door 20 is spoiled.
Furthermore, the front door frame part 30 is securely fixed to the front surface of the rear door frame part 32 by means of the fixing member while the door hinge 24, the hook assembly 28, and the door glass 26 are disposed at the rear door frame part 32. As a result, the assembling process of the door frame 22 is very difficult, and the hook assembly 28 may be incorrectly assembled.
When the door frame 22 is assembled, for example, the hook shaft 42 may be accidentally separated from the door frame 22, or the outer ends of the resilient members 46 may not be correctly held at the rear surface of the front door frame part 30. For this reason, it is necessary to securely fix the front door frame part 30 to the front surface of the rear door frame part 32 while the hook assembly 28 is properly held. Consequently, the assembling process of the door frame 22 is very difficult.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating another example of a conventional door 21 having a handle type hook assembly, and FIG. 5 is an exploded plan view illustrating a door frame of the door 21 shown in FIG. 4.
Components of the conventional door 21 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, which are identical or similar to those of the conventional door 20 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, are indicated by the same reference numerals as those of the conventional door 20 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and a detailed description thereof will not be given.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a grip hole 35 is formed at the inner circumferential surface of the front door frame part 30 such that the user of the drum type washing machine can hold the grip hole 35 to open or close the door 21. The hook assembly 29, including the handle 45, is disposed inside the grip hole 35. Other construction of the conventional door 21 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is identical to that of the conventional door 20 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.
One end of the handle 45 is hingedly attached to the hook shaft 42, and the other end of the handle 45 is disposed in the grip hole 35 such that the hook 40 is moved in a hinged fashion in the lateral direction of the drum type washing machine through the user's manipulation.
As described above, the handle 45 is not protruded out of the grip hole 35, and the front door frame part 30 is formed in the shape of a complete ring. Consequently, the pleasing appearance of the door 21 is not spoiled as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, which is distinguished from the conventional door 20 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in which the pleasing appearance of the door 20 is spoiled due to the handle 44 and the grip part 34.
In the conventional door 21 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, however, the hook assembly 29, including the handle 45, is disposed in the door frame 22, at which the grip hole 35 is formed. As a result, it is difficult to provide space sufficient to dispose the hook assembly 29 at the door frame 22, and therefore, the disposition of the hook assembly 29 is very difficult.
Furthermore, the interiors of the front door frame part 30 and the rear door frame part 32 are exposed to the outside through the grip hole 35, which affects the pleasing appearance of the door 21, and therefore, marketability of the drum type washing machines having such doors is lowered.
For example, the door frame 30 is made of an injection-molded plastic material, which does not provide high quality and luxurious appearance to the consuming public. The rear door frame part 32, which is not exposed to the outside, is not plated, although the surface of the front door frame part 30 is plated with a metal material to improve the pleasing appearance and surface hardness of the front door frame part 30. Consequently, the unplated front surface of the rear door frame part 32 and the complicated components in the door frame 22 are exposed to the outside through the grip hole 35, and therefore, the pleasing appearance of the door 21 is spoiled.